


I Think You Know What I Want

by fiveyaaas



Series: In Another Life [16]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - Restaurant, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Friends to Lovers, Gift Fic, Hopefully this satisfied the prompt ella gave?, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, she gives off karen vibes, the fact that i made the handler a karen is the best part of this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:33:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28909371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiveyaaas/pseuds/fiveyaaas
Summary: “When are you two going to get together?” Agnes asked, having asked this before. She wasn’t sure how to react to the woman’s questioning, and Five apparently didn’t know either, making a strangled noise before telling her that he had to go get a drink order for the woman at 12.She laughed nervously, “Five and I are just friends.”“Right, but… there’s something more there.”
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves
Series: In Another Life [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1868005
Comments: 3
Kudos: 33





	I Think You Know What I Want

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ellaphunt19](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellaphunt19/gifts), [JjdoggieS](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JjdoggieS/gifts), [sunchime](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunchime/gifts), [Blackat14](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blackat14/gifts).



> Alright, so this is from a prompt by ellaphunt19, who is truly a fluff queen!!! The paint my world squad gave each other a bunch of prompts, and I wrote a few because I love them dearly! 
> 
> Here was the original prompt, which has been edited a little because the “plot” took me away (how much of this is a “plot” and not just fluff, I cannot say)- 
> 
> _“The manager says the only reason the restaurant where we work at is popular is because people enjoy eating while watching our relentless flirting with each other but I swear to God we’re not flirting???” AU._

As Vanya gathered up silverware into her hands, she craned her neck, asking Five, her coworker and best friend, “Can you get table 12? I don’t want Diego handling them because I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have the patience.”

Five smirked, “And I do?”

“You’re more… subtle about your dislike of the more  _ particular  _ customers.”

“So… Karens?”

“If she heard you call her that, she’d complain, and then Grace would get that  _ ‘I’m not mad, I’m disappointed’  _ tone with us.”

“Thus proving my point, right?”

Vanya grinned, nearly stumbling into the table of one of their regulars, Agnes, as she held in laughter. 

“When are you two going to get together?” Agnes asked, having asked this before. She wasn’t sure how to react to the woman’s questioning, and Five apparently didn’t know either, making a strangled noise before telling her that he had to go get a drink order for the woman at 12. 

She laughed nervously, “Five and I are just friends.”

“Right, but… there’s something more there.”

“No, there is not.” Vanya frowned as she caught sight of the woman snapping at Five about taking so long to get her order, having been there less than three weeks. “I’ll be back in a sec, Agnes.”

Grace reached Five and the customer before Vanya could, and she was glad that their manager had intercepted the interaction. Somebody had to, based on the stiffness of Five’s shoulders. Diego was more quick to anger, but, when Five got pissed, he tended to yell. The only reason neither of them had been fired was because Grace was a saint, treating her workers more like they were her children. Most of the time when they had an issue with a customer, they got a stern talking to and that was about it. 

“Is there a problem here?” Grace asked the woman sweetly. 

She sneered. “Yes, your employee is incompetent.”

“Oh, dear.” She shot Five a look, and he rushed to Vanya’s side. Usually, when he was starting to get annoyed, she made him go to her, knowing that she would calm him down. “What did you say your name was again?”

“I didn’t.”

“Well, I’m Grace. And your name is…?”

“Karen Handler.”

Five snorted, and Vanya couldn’t help the giggle that left her, grabbing her friend’s arm and walking outside with him. He pulled a box of cigarettes out of his pocket, offering her one, and she accepted. 

“Smoking kills, you know,” Vanya told him, reaching in his pocket for a lighter. 

He grabbed a cigarette for himself. “I heard it also makes you look cool, though, from this guy with sunglasses and a sick haircut.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize you hung out with men from 90’s anti smoking ads. That explains everything.”

His lips quirked. “You know, you’re kind of adorable in that hostess uniform.”

“We wear practically the same uniform.”

“I think you wear it better.”

“Did you just have an opportunity to call yourself pretty and not take it?” She tugged him down onto a bench right next to the small garden they usually smoked at, and he easily sat down beside her, letting her curl up to his side. 

Usually, when she did this, she never questioned it, having always been physically affectionate with him, even when they were kids. However, with Agnes regularly asking them if they were dating, she couldn’t help but start to question her affection. Vanya had always just thought that everybody acted with their best friend this way, but clearly they didn’t. Or, perhaps, Agnes was just somebody from a generation that didn’t think a man and a woman could  _ be  _ best friends, which was bullshit. She and Five had been best friends for years, and she’d never really even  _ thought  _ about that until other people made a big deal about it. Then again, every time she was presented with the information, she thought of the way her stomach would flip when Five said he was hanging out with a woman or the way she’d suggested they be roommates a while back, not wanting him to live with anybody else. That didn’t matter though,  _ he  _ didn’t think of her that way. 

“Vanya?” Five’s voice sounded concerned. “You haven’t said a word in three minutes.”

“Oh, sorry.” She shook her head clear of thoughts. “Do you think it’s weird that Agnes keeps asking if we’re dating?”

“Do you want me to ask her to stop?” His voice was cautious, like he was worried she would snap at him. She didn’t tend to ever get mad at him, except for minor things, like when he’d drink up all the coffee while she was studying for class before she could get some. 

She realized that she hadn’t answered for a second, watching him, starting to think about how different he looked now that they were in their mid-twenties. He was just about to get his master’s degree, waiting to work in his field until he had one and hoping to work while he worked on his doctorate’s. Oftentimes, she’d remember that they were on entirely separate paths from  _ where  _ they were in life, feeling guilt for not having everything figured out yet. She was pretty sure he would move out the second that he had a grown up job, and it made her heart clench just to think of it. 

“It’s fine,” Vanya told him, taking in his strong jaw and dark brows. “Just… don’t you think it’s weird that people think we’re together?”

He shrugged. “Not really. I sometimes tell customers that we’re saving up for our wedding to get better tips.”

“You do  _ what  _ now?”

“Agnes is the only customer we have that knows the truth.” He laughed, and the sound comforted her, despite the fact that he’d just dropped a bomb on her. 

She set her head closer to his chest, hoping to feel it rumble if he laughed again. “Is that why she keeps bothering us, then?”

“No, she just thinks that we like each other, even though I’m only pretending to be with you to get good tips. She’s right about me, though. I do like you.”

Though she would expect it to be a grand thing, it didn’t feel that way. He confessed it like it was just a matter of fact, like the sun rose in the east and he liked her. “Well, I like you too,” she said, forcing her voice to sound light.

“You misunderstand. I’m in love with you.”

Still, he said it completely nonchalantly. “You do?”

“Yeah, but I know you don’t feel that way—”

“I never said that,” she blurted. 

They were interrupted by Karen Handler stomping out of the restaurant, yelling towards the direction of Grace, who was blinking at her innocently. 

“We should probably handle that,” Vanya said. 

Five nodded. “Yeah, we should.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!! 💕💕💕💕


End file.
